GDT: Rookie Tournament: Canadiens vs. Sabres (7PM ET on RDS.ca & YouTube)

[c3z4r]

We had Tito Ortiz on defense.

He was reaching for those grapes all night

 

[Goldenhands]

Positionally... sure.

Talent... most definitely a need.

I'm rooting for Slaf, I want to live in a world where I can forget we had the chance to grab Cooley.

Cooley produced decent numbers in his draft year, but nothing to write about, he centered a line made of Snuggerud, a 6'2 scoring winger and Cutter Gauthier, a 5OV prototype power winger. In his D+1, his numbers are great, but he still played in ideal conditions between Snuggerud and Matthew Knies, 2 big talented fowards. Now he is going to experience the NHL without the same supporting cast and likely smaller linemates, its gonna be the first time he faces some real adversity. I still see him as a good but not great top 6 center personally, I dont think we missed on a special player, the guy with special physical attributes is the one we drafted and his talent level has become so badly underrated.

 

[calder candidate]

There are several posters pumping his tires. There's maybe one of them which I truly trust on his appraisal ( @ChesterNimitz ) but would consider maybe a bit optimistic.

There a difference between pumping the tire and thinking he could have made the team out of camp last year or this year… He has great tool but clearly has stuff to work on if he want to make the NHL.

 

[Bottle Rocket]

I dont know these guys
Is this Denis Savard dude that good a goaltender?

He's a very talented goaltender. Look, that's him in our home jersey, stopping the puck.

 

[Mudz]

Chances to make the team
Mailloux
Bech
Roy

Good
David < Benson
Dobes
Tourigny

Bad
Heineman
Ortiz
Ferrell

Heineman can't catch a pass or make one.

 

[Nevins]

https://forums.hfboards.com/threads...rds-ca-youtube.2940242/page-27#post-191536292

https://x.com/scottmatla/status/1702860753080844764?s=20

 

[InAG-P]

Funny, didn’t see the game, but reading thw posts here tonight, you seem to be the only one who thinks Reinbacher was good.

David played a sound game IMO albeit you can tell he was playing conservative. Very smart first passes, good ability to stand up on the line (decision making) and very sound defensive play. I actually loved his game today....first real game on small ice is a success.

 

[Bottle Rocket]

Chances to make the team
Mailloux
Bech
Roy

Based on that game and what we knew before, Mailloux would have to be very impressive going forward to have a chance at making the team this year. People doubt Baron being ready, Mailloux is not even close to Baron at the moment. He lacks a lot of defensive awareness.

Roy was not good enough either.

 

[Twisted Sinister]

Big Oof. You can tell how much deeper Buffalo's cupboards are than ours in terms of tealent. Plus they have more talent on their main roster. Being in the Atlantic is gonna be fuuuun for a long time.

 

[Rapala]

There a difference between pumping the tire and thinking he could have made the team out of camp last year or this year… He has great tool but clearly has stuff to work on if he want to make the NHL.

We need to see him paired with a stronger partner and he absolutely needs to use his legs more to get out of trouble. One thing is for sure those who thought he might be able displace Justin Barron might want to reassess their position.

 

[Treb]

There a difference between pumping the tire and thinking he could have made the team out of camp last year or this year… He has great tool but clearly has stuff to work on if he want to make the NHL.

16 people (out of 307 so 5.2%) voted for him as our top prospect in this year prospect ranking.

He ended up #3 (which is still an overanking by far IMO as I had him #7).

I can guarantee you, some people saw him as an Hab as soon as this year. I can also guarantee most of these people opinions were not solely hockey-based. Part of our fanbase is enamoured with controversy.

 

[The Real Timo]

I knew they would lose. I didn't have a good feeling.

 

[Treb]

Big Oof. You can tell how much deeper Buffalo's cupboards are than ours in terms of tealent. Plus they have more talent on their main roster. Being in the Atlantic is gonna be fuuuun for a long time.

How many years have we been saying that for Buffalo?

They keep getting nice top 10 picks, yet it's been failure after failure.

 

[CheldishGamibno]

Kidney is Cam Hillis 2.0. with chance we might get another Nicolas Beaudin woo!

 

[admiralcadillac]

I knew they would lose. I didn't have a good feeling.

When have you had a good feeling? Also, who gives a f***.

How many of these guys have you even seen play to make your brilliant assessment?

 

[calder candidate]

This game was just a serie of broken plays, both team had problems connecting 2 passes… Not sure anyone can crack the line up. Trudeau was solide, Dobes had to make some good saves.

 

[Twisted Sinister]

How many years have we been saying that for Buffalo?

They keep getting nice top 10 picks, yet it's been failure after failure.

Well, watching them last year, goaltending was a huge issue. We'll see how they do this year if Levi graduates and gives them some stability.

The Sabres' and Penguins' goaltending is actually one of the things that screwed us with Florida last year. If either of them had gotten at least mediocre goaltending, we would've gotten a much better pick.

 

[Whitesnake]

Kidney is Cam Hillis 2.0. with chance we might get another Nicolas Beaudin woo!

He is the perfect definition of a good junior player. That's it.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

That game was enough to tell me that Mailloux has no chance to make the NHL this season and needs a full season in the AHL

 

[Whitesnake]

That game was enough to tell me that Mailloux has no chance to make the NHL this season and needs a full season in the AHL

I have no idea how anybody could have thought that he had a chance. Kid played 150 games in the past 4 years. And he always struggled defensively despite being one of the tallest and biggest player. Kid has A LONG way to go.

 

[The Real Timo]

I have no idea how anybody could have thought that he had a chance. Kid played 150 games in the past 4 years. And he always struggled defensively despite being one of the tallest and biggest player. Kid has A LONG way to go.

Thank god we still have Chris Wideman.

 

[DinosaurBones]

People all have their opinions on the way kids played tonight. Some may be different doesnt mean theyre wrong. My overall take was they were alot more sloppy than I expected. Rushed/scared passes. Passes in feet and sometimes at peoples waste. The easy play was rarely made, but was often replaced but a one too many stick handle to fancy tuck it under someones stick for a pass that lead to nothing or didnt connect. Expect better tomorrow.

Dobes was okay despite score but found himself out of position far too often especially early.
Roy was just safe. Nothing good, nothing really bad. But need more from him.
Mysak works, skills arent there.
Simoneau is a 5'7 bulldog. Love him.
Mesar = invisible. Forgot he was playing for a while.
Kidney some nice plays but overall, invisible and safe.
Farrell didnt play well, he seemed intimidated but he atleast fired the puck unlike alot of guys
Heinemen could make the team
Mailloux is as advertised. Big, good skater, defensive flaws. Would of liked for him to fire the puck on the PP
Rein looked great. Young great.
Trudeau was best D = underrated
Beck is almost a pro but there most definitely are gaps. Could have been an off game, and camp is long. Shot for him to get there this year. FACEOFFS
I didnt enjoy watching the 2 invite D, or Parker-Jones (I think hes terrible)
Did Guindon even have a shift?
Davidson was okay, nothing too bad nothing too good
You can tell Tourigny played pro last year with how he reads plays, will be huge adjustment to NA pro size compared to Europe/Q
X was fine. Didnt expect more from a 4th rd pick in his first camp game. Throw that body more

Overall my main thoughts give or take some shifts of course. Tomorrow I cant see them playing worse, there will be a little fire under their asses after that gongshow

 

[SlafySZN]

Chances to make the team
Mailloux
Bech
Roy

Good
David < Benson
Dobes
Tourigny

Bad
Heineman
Ortiz
Ferrell

Heineman can't catch a pass or make one.

Mailloux and Roy were one of the worst players they don’t have a chance to make the team.

If we didn’t already know Reinbacher was going back in Switzerland, i’d say he has a better chance to make the team than Mailloux just by his type of game, already mature.

 

[Hacketts]

Cooley produced decent numbers in his draft year, but nothing to write about, he centered a line made of Snuggerud, a 6'2 scoring winger and Cutter Gauthier, a 5OV prototype power winger. In his D+1, his numbers are great, but he still played in ideal conditions between Snuggerud and Matthew Knies, 2 big talented fowards. Now he is going to experience the NHL without the same supporting cast and likely smaller linemates, its gonna be the first time he faces some real adversity. I still see him as a good but not great top 6 center personally, I dont think we missed on a special player, the guy with special physical attributes is the one we drafted and his talent level has become so badly underrated.

Seems like Cooley is creating a lot on his own as well, I think it's pretty evident that his skills give him quite the opportunity to become a special player. I'm hoping are unicorn becomes a unicorn, I'm rooting for Slaf almost as much as you are. I'm looking forward to seeing the work Slaf has done with his all time off.

Regardless of this debate tho, I think it's fair to say that this next draft needs to be focused on getting a heavy dose of skill into this prospect pool.

 

[Habs]

David played a sound game IMO albeit you can tell he was playing conservative. Very smart first passes, good ability to stand up on the line (decision making) and very sound defensive play. I actually loved his game today....first real game on small ice is a success.

weird, I thought he was almost invisible. If he was a late round draft pick I'd say, he did ok, but for a top pick he was unimpressive.